


On The Brighter Side

by doieagenda



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 7dream, Alternate Universe - College/University, Conspiracy Theories, Kind of fluffy at the end, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan is Whipped, Light Angst, M/M, balcony fic, renhyuck, renjun is a sad boy, sicheng is renjun's brother
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:07:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25422889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doieagenda/pseuds/doieagenda
Summary: Renjun likes to talk to himself on his balcony and Donghyuck (who lives a floor below him) likes to listen to him talk.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Donghyuck | Haechan
Comments: 7
Kudos: 125





	On The Brighter Side

**Author's Note:**

> Henlo welcome to my second nct fic hehe. I've had this fic idea in my brain for more than a year now and I thought Renhyuck would be such a good ship for this because the renhyuck community is in shambles. renhyuck pspspsps come home to us please. please enjoy this hehe
> 
> thank u to k and my other friends who beta read this.

Donghyuck has always been on top of his game when it comes to his academics. He knows it in himself that he can make anything work even if he does it last minute because he’s got a big brain— or so his mother says. So when Johnny and Taeyong— two of his upperclassmen— invited him to go clubbing with them on a Tuesday night for no reason at all, he instantly agreed. He didn’t think he’d be waking up on a random curb next to a passed out Taeyong on top of a limp Johnny.

People just said he was smart, not responsible. With a pounding headache and a dead cellphone, he begrudgingly walked to his apartment at the ass crack of dawn. He knows Johnny might beat him up for leaving them there, but hey, Donghyuck tried to nudge them awake and they didn’t budge so that’s on them. 

Arriving at his apartment, he plugs in his phone and runs to his bedroom, a comfortable bed engulfing him in a welcoming embrace. He felt like it ate him whole, and while he was consumed by his fatigue, all responsibilities and dues are washed away from his mind. 

Donghyuck jolts awake when his phone rings. He glares at it for a few seconds before clumsily pulling it out from the charger and accepting the call.

“Yes?” He says with a drowsy voice. 

“Damn dude, where have you been? We’ve been calling you nonstop the whole day,” Jaemin says, the tone in his voice a little concerned. Donghyuck rubs his hands on his face and sighs. 

“I went out with Johnny and Taeyong hyung then we got a little wasted.” 

“A little? A guy from our block said you were blacked out on their sidewalk. Lee Donghyuck, I’m not letting you off the hook this time mister, you have a paper due in 12 hours,” Jaemin nags. 

“What do you mean 12 hours? What time is it?”

He hears shuffling in the background then Jaemin deadpans, “It’s 7PM.”

A full second pass by before he comes to his senses. He shoots out of bed in so much haste, casting aside his phone. 

“Shit, I’m screwed.” 

Jaemin talks on the other line, not knowing that the person he is talking to is already rushing to get his laptop from the drawer. Realizing that Jaemin is still on the call, he runs back to the bed where his phone lies and bids his friend goodbye. 

“I gotta finish this Jaems! Talk to you later!” 

Yeah, he’s definitely screwed. 

There are several moments like this in Donghyuck’s life where he starts on a project late but pulled through everything and he owed it to his brain for being so cooperative. Yet in this hapless circumstance, his brain can only be compared to mashed potatoes. 

He groans after rereading his material for the essay. “Why can’t my brain absorb anything!” 

A text from Jeno reminding him to take a breather distracts him from his breakdown. He’s right, maybe a little air into his system would help. He sighs and takes a folding chair out of his closet. Setting it down on his balcony, he indulges himself in the scene in front of him. 

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale. 

Everything was peaceful at that moment with the only sound he hears is his own breathing and the distant blare of the cars from below. 

Until a random voice breaks his reverie. 

“The Mandela Effect isn’t nonsense! It actually makes perfect sense. How do they say that parallel universes aren’t real?” 

Donghyuck looks around his apartment and sees nothing unusual. He swallows nervously and goes back to meditating.

However, the voice did not let him. A long period of frustrated groans was let out that snapped Donghyuck out from his breathing exercises. 

“Like wouldn’t that be awesome though? Parallel universes.”

Donghyuck wants to answer but he’s afraid that if he answers a supernatural being will take him. He glances up to the balcony above his and sees a fiddling hand. A wave of relief washed over him when he registered that there are no paranormal activities in his apartment. The voice— in this case, his upstairs neighbor— goes on about parallel universes, timelines, and other dimensions and how it makes sense. 

All points, carefully soaked into the crevices of his mind and although quite interesting and a little entertaining, he knows he must not intrude because who knows if his neighbor is actually talking to someone on the phone. He saves himself from the embarrassment and doesn’t reply. 

“I hope that in another universe, you’re still with me,” his neighbor says sadly. Almost, longingly. 

Donghyuck takes that as his cue to stop listening. He feels like he’s interrupting something intimate. And shit, he forgot about his essay. 

After a sleepless night of writing, he finally passes his work. Though making a quality essay― subjectively speaking― the boy from upstairs did not leave his mind. It was not often that Donghyuck went out to his balcony. Well, it was not often that he is home since Jaemin and Jeno have a comfier and cooler home than him but today instead of going straight to his friends’ apartment, he ought to go straight to his. 

He carefully places the foldable chair on his balcony once again, staring into the skyline of their city and waiting for a particular voice to start speaking again. In his head he hears Jeno calling him a creep but he tries to rationalize this situation. 

It’s not like he’s eavesdropping, the guy’s voice from last night was so good. It was smooth and pretty and perhaps Donghyuck found it attractive. 

And he can’t help being curious about who this person is and why they talk out on their balcony in the dead of night. He wonders if he’s the same age as Donghyuck or if he still goes to college like him or if his face is as pretty as his voice. He wonders about a lot of things about his upstairs neighbor despite hearing him once. 

Okay, perhaps he is a creep. 

“Sometimes I wonder why I’m friends with Chenle and Jisung,” A voice cuts Donghyuck out of his rationalization process. He adjusts his seat more comfortably and tries to silence his thoughts about how his neighbor mentioned his friends’ names. He makes a mental reminder to ask Jaemin or Mark if he knows a ‘Chenle’ or ‘Jisung’. 

“How do they not believe me when I say we’re in a simulation,” He continues. “I mean it’s okay if they don’t completely believe the theory because their baby brains can’t grasp that kind of information yet but do they have to say I should stop believing in those kinds of stuff?” 

Donghyuck isn’t particularly learned in conspiracy theories. He tried to watch Buzzfeed Unsolved once but his short attention span didn’t allow him any new knowledge on such topics however, listening to the boy upstairs rant about how reality is different for every person makes his ears perk up in a new found affinity for theories. He explains how there are two races: one from the original race and those in the simulation, he screams about there are doubts in quantum physics―“Quantum physics for god’s sake! Even I don’t understand that!” ―if the material world is real then he rambles about how reality is different for each person. 

“Every day I curse the damned person behind this simulation. Do I feel empty because I’m only a digital construct?” He sighs. 

Donghyuck’s mind wanders again to the unchartered territory that is his upstairs neighbor. He wonders where he pulls information like that. Donghyuck kinda admires how his brain functions, it’s galactic. However, he can’t help but feel sympathetic for the boy, his tone always sounds so sad. It makes him want to go there and comfort him but he doesn’t want to intrude and out himself for being a creep.

At lunch, Donghyuck tells his friends about his upstairs neighbor. It’s not like he can keep it to himself for more than a week when he’ll eventually run his mouth to them. 

“Dude, you’re such a creep,” Jeno says. He laughs at how he knew how his friend would say that.

“I knew you’d say that.”

“Even if Hyuck’s a creep, I think it’s romantic,” Jaemin chimes in. “He doesn’t listen to us like that.” 

Mark laughs and Donghyuck hits both of them on the back of their heads. “He’s interesting, deadass.”

“How can your upstairs neighbor be more interesting than us?” Mark asks him before taking a sip from a milkshake. Donghyuck ignores how it’s his and proceeds to tell them about how his voice is amazing and how he can talk about conspiracies endlessly for hours. 

“Sounds like a crush,” Jaemin shrugs and drinks from Donghyuck’s milkshake too. He groans and for the second time, he smacks Jaemin and Mark on the back of their heads.

“No, he’s just really…” He trails off forgetting his point. “Never mind, anyway do you know some people named Chenle and Jisung?” 

Jaemin and Mark simultaneously said no and Jeno, for reasons too surprising to Donghyuck, nodded his head. He thought Jaemin and Mark would know since they know almost everyone in their year. 

“They’re sophomores,” Jeno says casually. It really surprised him because Jeno doesn’t really know a lot of people nor does he try to know and meet other people.

“Do they have another friend? Like another person they always hang out with?” He asks, a little eager. 

Jeno shrugs and takes a bite from his burger. “Not that I know off, I really only know Jisung because I tutored him in English, Chenle’s just stuck to him 24/7.” 

“Oh.” And just like that, Donghyuck was two steps behind from figuring out who this voice upstairs is.

Donghyuck goes out to his balcony every day now. Not only does he enjoy keeping the boy upstairs company― well, at least he’d like to think so in a non-creep kind of way― he also found peace in the city skyline, especially at night when the lights feel like they’re substitutes for the stars that hide because of the light pollution in the urban jungle they’re in. 

It was dusk when Donghyuck decided to get take out for dinner. It’s not like he can’t cook, he just got too lazy and was too excited to listen to his neighbor again— which happens too often nowadays. 

He gets lost on what food he wants for dinner that he didn’t notice when the elevator door is all ready for him. He coughs awkwardly and goes in the elevator. A boy, probably his age or younger, shifts his feet around. The 11-story ride down felt like ages and Donghyuck couldn’t stand the silence. 

“Hey, do you know that we live in a simulation?” He brings up randomly, unconsciously pulling out a thing he heard upstairs. The boy stares at him blankly, probably pondering why a random boy brings up a conversation like this in an elevator. Donghyuck covers it up with an awkward chuckle. The other boy opens his mouth to speak, his eyes bright and fervent but was cut off by the ‘ding’ of the elevator. 

“Hey! Gege! We’ve been waiting for you!” An orange haired boy shouts out and waves at the other boy. Donghyuck could only look at the sight before him. The orange boy came with a tall, lanky guy with pink hair and they both jumped on the elevator boy. He looks tiny compared to them. The elevator boy just looks back at him apologetically and lets himself be dragged by his two friends.

That was so embarrassing, Donghyuck thinks to himself. He slaps his mouth and shakes his head thinking he must sound so skeptic and sketchy. At the restaurant, he forces himself to forget about the incident in the elevator.

His curiosity about his neighbor has been gnawing on his insides. Donghyuck listens to rants about ghosts, serial killers, cults and the like for a week. It interests him probably more than watching those Buzzfeed videos and since it’s him, he can’t help but relay all that information to his friends.

“I really think you like this updoor neighbor of yours,” Jaemin said munching on a nacho chip one lunch break. 

“Updoor? That isn’t a word. Also, I haven’t seen him, how the fuck can I like him?” Donghyuck retorts. Jaemin looks back at him with a mocking look on his face. He’d really like to pull that blue streak on the other boy’s hair.

“I kinda wanna hear him talk, let’s hang out at yours,” Jeno says. He felt his eye twitch a little. Honestly, Donghyuck didn’t mind sharing what the boy upstairs talks about but something in him wants that to be only between him and his neighbor. 

Mark sees the change in his friend’s demeanor and puts a cordial hand on his shoulder to calm him down. 

“Hyuck, if you want to keep whatever thing you have with the boy on the balcony, it’s okay but you should learn your boundaries, you’re basically trespassing on his privacy by listening, you shouldn’t feel angry at Jeno for wanting some of that,” Mark tells him. The atmosphere in their table changed drastically. Mark faces Jeno and tells him he shouldn’t intrude in something Hyuck is interested in. “Clearly, he wants it to be between the two of them so let’s not invite ourselves to his.” 

Jaemin laughs and claps, “Look at you being a grown mature man.” to which the other replies with a middle finger and roll of eyes.

Donghyuck remains quiet the whole break. He broods over the fact that he breached his neighbor’s privacy but still finds it his most favorite part of his day. 

Isn’t he fucked up?

It’s almost engraved in Donghyuck’s routine to go to his balcony to listen. There are times where his upstairs neighbor doesn't show up and it leaves an empty void in his day. Well, it’s not like they both have no lives to lead, it’s just that he feels pathetic enough to drop everything he needs to do to listen to the boy upstairs. 

Like any other day, he lets the loud honking horns of the cars below him fade out as he concentrates on the city skyline and the voice of the boy above his balcony. 

“Do you believe in soulmates?” his neighbor asks. 

“Yes,” Donghyuck says unconsciously― and loudly too. Soulmates were something he and Jaemin talk about nearly every day. He might not show it on the outside but he knows how big of a hopeless romantic he is and any topic related to destiny or fate would automatically summon his mouth to run unnecessarily however, he wishes he wasn’t interested in this topic at all because he’s already outed himself.

“Huh? Who was that?” The boy asks, clearly a little distressed. Donghyuck slaps a hand over his mouth to silence his breathing. His heart rate increases and he can almost hear his pulse in his ears. 

“Fuck,” He thinks as he hears the boy ask if anyone was there and Donghyuck just runs inside again, banging his head multiple times on the wall. 

Renjun looks around him to see if anyone was there and there wasn’t. He was pretty sure he heard someone answer him. The voice was loud and clear and the answer was crystal clear too. 

“Fuck, I knew ghosts existed,” he whispers to himself as he texts Chenle what happened to him. 

**Renun ge:**

_I’m so sure someone answered me Lele_

_Ghosts are real!!!_

**Lele:**

_Maybe ur just crazy_

_You checked your apartment for ghosts a year ago and u said there were none_

**Renjun ge:**

_Ur right. I must have just thought it_

**Lele:**

_I'm always right_

Since ghosts are out of the question, Renjun wouldn’t think any ghosts would reply to him in a talk about soulmates. He really thinks he’s gone mad. 

“I need to stop thinking about it, geez.” 

The next day, he went to a cat cafe with Chenle and Jisung. It wasn’t like a normal thing for them to go out, but he thinks he should give his mind a break after the strange episode last night. 

“Hyung, how’s your ghost situation?” Jisung asks him, quite distracted because of a cat rubbing its head on his lap.

“It’s no ghost, Renjun is just losing some brain cells,” Chenle says laughing. Renjun pushes him slightly and attends to the cat that’s near his feet. 

“I’d like to think it’s a ghost.”

Jisung picks up a white cat and shows it to Renjun, “Looks like you.” 

Renjun coos at the cat and pets its head. He clearly doesn’t want to talk about it anymore, he didn’t sleep well because of the paranoia of ghosts haunting his apartment or of going crazy. 

“Well, I think you’re losing brain cells, you talk to yourself so much it concerns me as your guardian,” Chenle tells him to which he scoffs at.

“I’m older than you.”

“I’m still your guardian, and as your guardian, you should talk to real people!” Chenle says while he plays with a ginger cat. 

Renjun groans and turns to look at Chenle and Jisung, “I do! I talk to you guys!”

“We’re not real people, we’re only part of your imagination,” Jisung quips which earns him a punch from Renjun. 

“I hate you both,” he mutters with no signs of malice. 

“We love you, hyung!” Jisung says as he crushes Renjun into a hug. 

Donghyuck was a little disappointed with the lack of balcony boy time he got the past few days. He waited the whole night for some random rant about Chenle or Jisung or another conspiracy theory but nothing came his way. He really did not intend to stay up so late (maybe a little passed midnight) (Okay, maybe a lot passed midnight) but he got so sidetracked by waiting, he didn’t notice how quickly time passes when he’s just sitting there.

The sun on his face felt like such a good dream to Donghyuck. He smiles in his sleep and changes his position, but the sporadic vibration of his phone jolts him awake. He squints at the screen only to see that he was already half an hour late to his first class. 

“Shit! Fuck! I’m so late!”

He arrives halfway through the lecture. Careful to not create a scene, he quietly scours the whole room to find a vacant seat and the only one is beside a familiar boy. 

It was the boy from the elevator.

The boy looks at him and quickly avoids his gaze as Donghyuck sprints to the vacant seat beside him. 

Class ended quickly― obviously, he only attended half of it however, his seatmate kept shifting in his seat. Perhaps he felt uncomfortable after Donghyuck’s simulator stunt in the elevator. Anyway, Donghyuck wanted to clear that up to him but he spotted Mark, Jaemin and Jeno out of the lecture room, probably waiting for him to get to their next class so he did not waste time in leaving. They all walked up to him and slammed him for not replying to their texts.

“I rushed to get to this class, I don’t have time to answer you fools,” He answers them, looking for a certain someone. Elevator boy walks out the room carrying loads of books and binders. Donghyuck steps in front of him cautiously, trying not to scare the boy away.

“Hey, we’ve met before... right?” 

The boy looks around him, a clear discomfort on his face. They stayed near the door while the crowd around them slowly dispersed while the two of them.

“Y-you’re talking to me?” He stammers, lifting his head up to meet Donghyuck’s smile. Donghyuck flashes him a friendly smile and waves. 

“Yeah, I’m Lee Donghyuck. I have to apologize for the elevator thing,” he says with a sheepish smile, putting a hand on his neck. 

And like Deja vu, the boy opens his mouth to reply back however was cut off by Jaemin and the other two.

“Aye, our Hyuckie is so friendly!” Jaemin teases. Donghyuck feels his ears grow hot, he shoots the boy an apologetic look. Jeno whistles while Mark laughs his brains out at Donghyuck who is a blushing mess in front of the elevator boy.

He quickly snaps out of it and sends them the deadliest glare he could muster. Mark knows the three of them wouldn’t hear the end of it later, but right now seeing Donghyuck so flustered is very worth the earful they’re going to get from the boy. The four of them turn to the boy Donghyuck was talking to, only to find that he’s already gone. 

Donghyuck groans and facepalms himself. He must’ve looked more of a bumbling fool than their first encounter. 

Back on his balcony, Donghyuck hopes for his upstairs neighbor to go back to speaking to himself. Half to distract him from the humiliation he endured this morning and half because he misses listening to his neighbor’s pretty voice. 

“I hate myself,” He hears from above. Donghyuck purses his lips together to prevent him from replying. He doesn’t want to repeat the last time he spoke on accident. 

“I can’t act like a proper person when other people talk to me. It’s obviously not them, it’s always me, I’m always the problem.” 

Hyuck frowns and sinks to his seat but continues to listen.

“What kind of person is so afraid of other human interaction?” He scoffs. “A lot of people are trying to break down my walls but once they tear down a brick I build it up higher than before.” 

“I hate myself so much, I want to leave this planet and live with aliens or something.” 

Something in his chest feels so heavy. He wants to understand the boy but he knows in himself he can’t. Donghyuck had always basked in the attention of others, and striking up conversations with other people was sort of second nature to him. Never having the problem like his neighbor’s was such a giant privilege, he thinks. The only thing he can do at the moment is send a telepathic hug to his neighbor. 

“Chenle always says I’m a lost cause, do you think I’m a lost cause?” The boy asks no one in particular. Both of them were waiting for a reply but no one answered. “I didn’t think I’d be such a social recluse if I didn’t lose you so early. I can’t even open up completely to my own friends, and there’s only two of them. You were always the one that encouraged me and made me strong. I miss you. So much.” 

After the whole rant, Donghyuck feels his cheeks wet from the stray tears that fell from his eyes and the rain that suddenly just poured on the whole city. 

He just wants to help but he really doesn’t want to intrude.

Donghyuck walks around with some weight on his shoulders. He feels like a certain burden has been passed to him. But don’t get him wrong, he’s not blaming it on the boy on the balcony, instead he points the blame to himself for listening and for not doing anything to help. 

“Dude, you’ve been brooding the whole week, what’s up?” Jeno asks him.

“Yeah,” Mark adds, “You look like Edward from twilight.”

Donghyuck looks at them, his eyes a little lifeless. “I’m sad.”

“Why?” Jaemin queries innocently. He only gives them a sigh and a scowl. He knows his friends are going to ask him, it’s just this time he really doesn’t want to share because it’s serious this time and it’s not his place to play hero.

“It’s my neighbor.” 

They all gave each other knowing glances and didn’t probe on the topic which Donghyuck was really grateful for. A hero complex wouldn’t be good in his situation right now. 

It was a different kind of night from all the other nights he spent on his balcony. His friends, as well as his seniors Johnny, Taeyong, and Taeil invited him to the lantern festival but he declined all offers in the guise that he was really tired from uni. 

It’s not exactly fake, he is kind of drained from all the paperwork and volunteer work he’s been doing, but the real reason is that he just wants― in a ghostly paranormal and totally quirky way― to keep balcony boy company. 

Anyway... the city, bare from its usual glare of lights, glowed differently tonight. Lanterns engulfed the sky and it was magnificent. 

“The sky is beautiful right now, Sicheng.” 

Donghyuck snaps out of it and looks to the ceiling as if he’d magically see through it. He and his neighbor must have the same looks of marvel on their faces. Little did he know, sorrow filled Renjun’s eyes tonight. 

It’s the first year he hasn’t attended the festival since he arrived in Korea. He would have enjoyed the sight before him were it not for the empty and lonely feeling that resonated inside his being. 

“I hope you were here to see it; I miss you so bad.”

Renjun who just stared at the lanterns flying up to the sky just hopes that they reach Sicheng to where he is now. He chuckles to himself while he thinks about memories with his brother while they explore the ins and outs of the city. 

“I remember when you spent half of your allowance to buy both of us lanterns on our first year here. I almost burnt your sweater, and you just laughed at me. You said we’ll keep doing this until we grow old, gege but look at me now. I’m alone.” Renjun uses his sweater to wipe off the tears he didn’t notice fall from his eyes. “I just really wish you’re here with me right now.”

Donghyuck didn’t sleep well the following nights. His neighbor keeps mentioning a Sicheng and he sounds sadder and lonelier. He sounds so hollow, and it honestly breaks Donghyuck’s heart even though it’s not his battle to fight. 

He goes through his days a little dazed― still the same him― but his brain is full, thoughts louder than usual. Johnny and Taeyong said they miss going to the club with him and his friends say that he’s a little detached the past few weeks. He also only finds distraction in attending all his classes and doing his schoolwork. Every day in his first class he sits beside his seatmate Injun who doesn’t really talk much, he just listens to Donghyuck run his mouth about how stupid their professor’s tie is in every class. He doesn’t really mind the lack of response from the boy, he just appreciates how he hasn’t told him off for being so talkative. 

Injun gives Donghyuck small laughs, and shy smiles whenever he cracks a joke. Donghyuck has always sensed that Injun was going through something. He notices the small little doodles on his notebook and it always feels familiar. Like the content of it is something he’s heard of before. Aliens, space, ghosts. 

It reminds him of his neighbor.

He looks past that; he’s always tried to be nice to everyone. But he’s softer and gentler to his seatmate.

“See you tomorrow?” He says as the class ends. Injun shoots him a careful grin. 

“See you, Donghyuck.” 

The day went really fast and everything else that followed after their first class passed by in a blur. Him and Mark went to their uni’s cafe― which was shockingly empty― and he was surprised to see Injun behind the cashier. He beams at him and waves. Mark went to a vacant booth and left the ordering to him, which he was lowkey thankful for. 

“Oh? I didn’t know you work here?” Donghyuck says to him. He’s been in the uni cafe a lot of times but he’s never seen Injun man the cashier once. 

“I don’t.” 

Donghyuck fuses his brows together in a confused manner. Injun giggles to which the other― to his surprise― smiles at unconsciously.

“I mean, I’m just filling in for my friend, Jisung.” 

Donghyuck chuckles and asks him if Chenle’s his friend too. What he said did not click in his head until the boy behind the cashier was stumbling to find the right words. Donghyuck can’t help to shift his feet nervously. 

“How’d you know that Chenle is my friend?” Injun asks him suspiciously. Thank god the cafe was empty and there were no lines being held by their conversation. It’s going to take Donghyuck a while to think of a response to Injun’s question.

“Oh, uhh... “He trails off. “My friend Jeno knows them.” 

_‘Nice save, Hyuck,’_ he thinks to himself. He wanted to slap his mouth and bang his head on the wall. “Oh, cool,” Renjun murmurs “Anyway, are you gonna order or…”

“Ah, yeah.” Donghyuck tells him his order and hands him over his card. Injun doesn’t really talk much and this is the most he’s heard him talk. He can’t pinpoint it but his voice sounds so familiar, like he’s always heard it before. 

A few moments later, Injun gives him their orders. Donghyuck looks at his cup and smiles at the small smiley face and sun next to his name. He looks at Injun who’s just looking at him with an easy and comfortable smile plastered on his face instead of the old, apprehensive look he gives Donghyuck. 

He goes back to Mark who just complains about how long it took him. 

“You were obviously flirting with that guy from your class.”

“I totally am not!” He utters a little too defensively. “We’re friends now.” 

Mark takes a sip from his frappe and rolls his eyes at him. “Whatever you say.”

Donghyuck and Mark end up spending an hour and a half in the cafe talking about everything that they missed in each other’s lives since Mark had to go on a “spontaneous, out of this world, amazing, totally mind blowing” trip with the guy he likes, Wong Yukhei from music theory. They finish up just in time because Injun’s shift just finished. Mark walks the other way while Donghyuck and Injun― unbeknownst to them― are headed in the same direction. 

Renjun sees Donghyuck at the bus stop, waiting while on his phone. He carefully sits beside the other, trying not to disturb his peace. Donghyuck looks up from his phone to see Injun beside him, his legs nervously tapping on the ground. 

Renjun swears Donghyuck has stars in his eyes. He’s so beautiful and he reminds him so much of Sicheng. 

_‘This is not the place to cry about missing Sicheng, Renjun. Get a hold of yourself,’_ Renjun reminds himself. 

“You take this bus too?” He asks, and hits himself mentally. _’Of course he takes this bus, how embarrassing.’_

“Yeah.”

Renjun’s face becomes red with humiliation. Everything became so awkward, he should’ve kept his mouth shut. 

“You make really good frappes by the way. Are you sure you don’t work there?” Donghyuck asks him.

“O-oh uhh, I did work at a cafe before, but I quit. Now I just really had to help Jisung.” 

“Dang, Jisung must be so lucky to have you then.” They sit there waiting for their bus, a comfortable silence permeating between the two of them. 

“Renjun.” He says which caught Donghyuck by surprise. “My real name is Renjun. Injun is just my Korean name.”

“O-oh, are you not Korean?” 

Renjun looks at him for a second and lets out a laugh, like a hearty and full laugh. It rings in Donghyuck’s brain a little too long since it’s the first time that he’s seen the other like this. So easy-going and relaxed. 

“I’m from China, I moved here with my brother four years ago,” He says with a tiny, melancholic smile. Their bus arrives before Donghyuck can respond to him. They board and sit snugly at the back of the bus. 

“Your Korean is so good, I never thought you’d be a foreigner,” Donghyuck murmurs. Renjun chuckles at him and fiddles with the string of his hoodie. 

“We lived near the border, so my school taught Korean. My older brother wanted to go to uni here so he studied korean extensively and I just went along for the ride.”

Donghyuck’s only response was ‘oh’ and they fell into a silence again until they both reached their stop. On the elevator, Renjun reminds Donghyuck of their first encounter. He groans and laughs at that embarrassing moment.

“God, don’t remind me. I have no brain to mouth filter.”

Renjun’s eyes turn to crescents as he smiles at the other boy. “It was cute! I am very interested in the simulation theory.”

“Really? I just heard it from someone.” 

“Yeah, I really wanted to start a fun conversation about that, too bad Jisung and Chenle ruined the moment for us,” Renjun laughs. They part ways as soon as they arrive at Donghyuck’s floor. 

The moment Donghyuck closes his door, something in his brain clicks. 

Renjun might be the boy on the balcony. He can’t exactly wrap his head around it but all the evidence points to it. First, Renjun lives on one of the floors above Donghyuck. The chances that it is exactly above Donghyuck’s balcony are big actually, seeing that there are only two more floors left above his. Second, Jisung and Chenle are his friends. The balcony boy said he only has them for friends. Third, Renjun mentioned an older brother. The boy from upstairs keeps talking about a brother he misses. Lastly, Renjun’s voice. It’s the same as the boy upstairs.

Slowly, the puzzle forms into one big image. An image Donghyuck has been trying to figure out the moment he first went out on his balcony that one stressful night. 

Positive that it is Renjun, he goes out to his balcony again. A little mindful of their current situation, Donghyuck ought to just use his time on his balcony to think. 

That is until he hears sniffles from above. 

“I shouldn’t be crying right now when I just made a new friend,” he chuckles bitterly. “His name is Lee Donghyuck, he’s from my class and he’s so nice, Sicheng.” The boy says. “He’s bright and funny, like you. He reminds me _so_ much of you and I’m supposed to be happy right? But why am I not?” 

Donghyuck’s heart drops to the ground hearing his name.

_‘Renjun, I’m so sorry.’_

“It was so easy to be with him and I haven’t talked to someone comfortably like that in so long. I was so close to bearing everything to him. I wanted to talk longer, and wanted to keep him close for longer, but something in me doesn’t want that, gege. When I was talking to him, I tried so hard not to break down in front of him because he makes me miss you so much.” He says this slowly, like he’s thinking of the right words amidst the tempest that must be going on inside him. 

“I want to let him in. I want him to know that I am tired of being lonely, tired of the reclusion I immersed myself in when you left me. I like him, Sicheng but I’m so scared of liking him because how is he gonna be with me? I have so many issues that I can’t resolve and so many emotions. How can someone like― no, how can anybody else love me when I can’t love myself properly and when after two years, I’m still grieving over my dead brother.” 

Donghyuck stands up and thinks about what he’s about to do when he hears the most heart wrenching sob from upstairs. That was the most agonizing cry he’s heard from Renjun. 

_That’s it._

Without hesitation, he runs out of his apartment and into the elevator. He searches for Renjun’s door and knocks frantically. He hears shuffling from inside while he waits. An unstable “Wait a minute!” was said from inside. 

He braces himself for the sight in front of him when Renjun opens the door. Renjun’s shirt was wet, his hair was disheveled, and his hands were trembling. The other boy forces a smile despite his bloodshot and puffy eyes. Donghyuck envelops him with a tight hug.

Renjun was so confused but he reluctantly hugged back. “Donghyuck?”

“Renjun, I’m sorry I heard everything from my balcony,” He whispers. He expects Renjun to break away from his hold and push him out of his home, yet he just stays there. Hugging Donghyuck back, clinging to him like a lifeline. 

“I’m sorry you have to hear that.” 

Donghyuck gives him the softest look, and hugs him tighter. “You have nothing to apologize for, Renjun.”

“I have a favor to ask you.” Renjun breaks away from their hug and looks at him nervously. Donghyuck only responds with a hum.

“Can you stay here until I calm my thoughts?” He asks feebly. Donghyuck nodded his head sincerely and held Renjun in his arms again. 

They talk for a few hours, Renjun shedding all his fears and walls after Donghyuck assured him he’s genuine about his intentions with him. All of the things Renjun has been saying to the void, he says to Donghyuck even though he knows of the other’s eavesdropping tendencies.

“Aren’t you mad that I’ve been listening to you for months?” Donghyuck asks him while he fidgets with the hem of his shirt.

“No,” Renjun utters easily. “No normal person would go to their balcony to talk alone; I just didn’t expect someone would listen to me talk about nerd stuff.”

“Nerd stuff? Dude, you made me like conspiracy theories, you did better than Buzzfeed.” 

Renjun snorted, showing signs at how at ease he is with Donghyuck around. “Ignoring the fact that you just dudezoned me, I actually like Buzzfeed.” Donghyuck just laughs at him. 

“You know right?” Renjun looks at him. “That I like you?” 

Both of them didn’t know where Renjun got all this confidence but Donghyuck likes it. He only concludes that Renjun’s already like this, he’s just a sad boy. However, no matter how much Donghyuck likes it, he is a little clumsy with his reactions. Who chokes on his spit after a confession like that? Renjun hands him a glass of water as he tries to catch his breath. After another embarrassing moment, he finally responds.

“I like you too?” He says with uncertainty. He didn’t really acknowledge it before when his friends joked about it because liking someone he hasn’t met yet seemed so farfetched to him. Yet it made sense, how the boy on the balcony engulfed his thoughts every day, it’s not as improbable as he thought it was. He cleared his throat and spoke again.

“I like you too,” He states, more confident in his answer.

Renjun smiles but it slowly falls. “That’s nice, but I don’t think I can be more than what we are right now.” 

“And I don’t want to force you to do anything you’re not comfortable with. Take as long as you want, Injunnie.”

“Injunnie? That’s cute,” Renjun mumbles to himself with a silly smile forming on his face.

“You’re cute.”

They both smile to themselves, a giddy grin plastered on both their faces. Both of them know that this is the start of something new. 

* * *

Donghyuck grumbles at the knocks on his door. He begrudgingly stands up to open the door. Today is a Saturday and he just got home from a night out with his senior friends. 

“Lee Donghyuck.”

He instantly brightens up when he sees a pink-haired boy standing before him in pajamas. He wipes the dried drool on his face and smiles at Renjun who is just giving him a stern look right now.

“You didn’t call if you arrived safely.”

Donghyuck just hugs him and pulls him in his apartment. “Stop trying to act cute, Hyuck.”

He smiles cheekily at Renjun who’s just standing there in his hug. “You called me Hyuck, stop trying to act mad.” 

They’ve been like this for the past year. Donghyuck and Renjun don’t have a label on what they are exactly, they just really felt comfortable with each other on the get-go. Jisung said that they look like they’re already dating which left both of them in a blushing mess. But honestly, they just refer to themselves as almost dating… Well, Renjun does because he thinks he’s ready. 

“I wasn’t mad,” Renjun says softly, with a face similar to the puppy eyes emoji. “I was only worried.”

Donghyuck beams at him, smile brighter than the sun and eyes twinkling so prettily. He lets go of Renjun― much to Renjun’s dismay. “I got home in one piece, didn’t I? You should worry about nothing.”

The other just sighs and sits down on the bed. “I know, but I’m just really paranoid. Sorry.” 

Donghyuck sits down beside him and chuckles. “You’re not gonna lose me, Injunnie.”

Renjun looks straight in the other boy’s eyes and his heart swells because in his eyes, it is overflowing with sincerity and love, and it assures him that Donghyuck is going to stay with him. He’s waited this long, now Renjun is going to do his part.

Renjun makes hangover soup for Donghyuck and they talk about the lantern festival that is happening tonight. All of them― both of their friend groups― have agreed to go out together for it. Their friend groups have eagerly merged and adjusting to everything was fairly easy for everyone. Jaemin adopted Jisung and Chenle and refers to them as his children. Mark, Jeno, and Renjun get along really well despite Donghyuck’s lingering fear of Renjun feeling uncomfortable and isolating himself. 

They watched movies until it was time for them to leave for the festival. Renjun has been full of nerves, he just wants this night to be special for him and Donghyuck. They eat dinner in a Chinese restaurant courtesy of Chenle’s endless whining about craving C hinese food. Then they run to the shops to buy lanterns of their own, Jaemin buying two saying he has a lot of wishes. 

“You got two too?” Donghyuck asks Renjun who has two lanterns in his arms. Renjun nods his head and smiles with a little melancholic front to him.

“One for me and one for Sicheng.” Donghyuck’s gaze softens at the other, remembering the lantern festival last year where he just watched from his balcony. They continued to where the ceremony was going to be held and went through the crowds of people hand in hand like preschool students. 

Everyone else was already writing on their lanterns, but Renjun can’t help but stare at Donghyuck who is so concentrated on writing his wishes, hopes, and dreams on a piece of flying paper. His eyes concentrated and lips in a tight line. Writing on the lantern doesn’t really mean much because in front of him, Renjun already acquired everything he needs.

But not ruining tradition, he writes on the lantern anyway. He writes his wish and message to Sicheng first. Renjun wants Sicheng to know that he is okay now and that he’s happy again. It took a while but he’s actually healed. He writes that he wants him to know that he still misses him every day and that in the next life, they will be together again. Hopefully, as brothers like in this life. He writes ‘I love you’ and ‘please be happy up in heaven’ feeling accomplished, since he did it without crying.

He gets his second lantern and writes the thing he has been wishing for a while now. He faces Donghyuck who already lit his lantern up and is waiting for Renjun to finish. When he finishes he lights up both his lanterns. 

He lets go of Sicheng’s lantern first, smiling up to the sky. Donghyuck clasps his hand in his and he lets go of his lantern. 

“Injunnie, I am so proud of you,” He says tenderly. Renjun turned to look at him and he was a little taken aback by how good Donghyuck looked with the lights from the lanterns illuminating his face. 

“Do you wanna know my second wish?” Renjun asks him. He holds the lantern and shows it to Donghyuck who is a little confused. His eyes widen and his mouth forms into an ‘o’.

‘Lee Donghyuck, please be my boyfriend.’ flashed in front of the other. Donghyuck stares at him with an unfathomable look on his face so Renjun lets go of the lantern and speaks.

“Hyuckie, I am eternally and perpetually indebted to you. You are the best thing that happened to me here and if it weren’t for you I’d spiral out of control. You gave me so much happiness and you made me feel things I have never felt before. Thank you so much for waiting for me and for allowing myself to heal. I like you― no, I love you so much and I’m ready for you, but only if you’ll have me?” Renjun says, an exhilarating high going on inside him. His heart is beating so fast it could jump out of his chest before Donghyuck gives his reply.

“Yes!” Donghyuck exclaims. “Yes! I’d be your boyfriend and I really love you Huang Renjun.” He runs to Renjun and holds his face in his hands. They stare lovingly in each other’s eyes before closing the gap between their lips. As cliche as it may sound, Renjun felt like there were fireworks surrounding them. 

Though the scenery before him was scintillating and amazing, a year ago Renjun felt as if he was confined in a very dark cage but now, he’s with the boy he loves and the people he cares about. Because on the brighter side of things, there is Lee Donghyuck.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello guys! thank you for reading this hehe I just want to say that the lantern festival is just a figment of my imagination and I don't know if it's actually a real thing in Korea or anything. Also I did not really intend for Sicheng's fate to turn out like that he's actually the love of my life. 
> 
> ALSO STREAM RENRA!! give renjun the clout he deserves and feel free to dm me on my [twitter](https://twitter.com/doyoungagenda)!


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